Method And System For Reporting Terminal Information, And Method And System For Maintaining Terminal Device, As Well As Device Management System

ABSTRACT

The invention discloses a method and a system of reporting terminal information in Device Management (DM) field. The method includes: the terminal reporting terminal information through an information reporting interface provided by a DM Agent module; the DM Agent module forwarding the terminal information to a DM Server; and the DM Server reporting the terminal information to a Maintenance Unit (MU) through a local information reporting interface. The invention also discloses a method and a system for maintaining terminal device in DM field as well as a DM system.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to communication technology field, especially to amethod and a system for maintaining terminal device and a devicemanagement system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mobile terminals are important components of the entire mobile operationservice system. As the functions of terminals become increasinglysophisticated, it is more likely that errors occur in terminal software.The competition among operators will be increasingly intense in thefuture; therefore, how to effectively maintain efficient Quality ofService (QoS) and low-cost device maintenance has become a major concernfor operators and terminal manufacturers.

Device Management, as an important part in the Open Mobile Alliance(OMA) specifications, has specified some fundamental standard protocolsfor device management. However, it has not covered all aspects of devicemanagement. For example, with respect to the functionality of devicefault resolution, in the existing OMA Device Management (DM) process, ifan error occurs on a device, the user of the device has to notify theoperator by some means (e.g., phone, WEB site, WAP site, etc.), then theoperator's DM system initiates a resolution process to implementterminal configuration, as described hereunder:

1. The user reports the error to the customer service center forexample, by means of a voice call;

2. The customer service center queries the device for deviceinformation;

3. The device reports its relevant configuration information includingdevice type, device serial number, Operating System (OS) version,capability, list of installed applications, event/performance logs, etc.to the customer service center;

4. Based on this information, the person in the customer service centerdetermines the causes of the error and requests the user forauthorization to download the fault resolution software;

5. The user grants the authorization;

6. The customer service center pushes the application to the device; andthe device installs and executes the application;

7. The device sends an acknowledgement message to the customer servicecenter.

The above method requires the user to detect the error actively andnotify the operator of the error before the fault resolution assistancemay be provided. Such a method restricts the ways available for theoperator to obtain errors in user terminals.

If the user has little knowledge of technical terms of the terminal, itis difficult for the user to report the terminal information accuratelyto the operator.

The terminal software developer has to handle software errors in apassive way; as a result, error detection and handling are oftendelayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and a system of reportingterminal information and a method and a system for maintaining terminaldevice as well as a device management system.

The method of reporting terminal information includes the followingsteps:

reporting, by a terminal device, the information of the terminal througha software program interface provided by a Device Management (DM) Agentmodule;

forwarding, by the DM Agent module, the terminal information to a DMServer; the DM Server reporting the terminal information to aMaintenance Unit (MU).

the software program interface includes a messaging interface, a fileinterface, an API, or a Web service interface.

the messaging interface includes an XML interface or a network protocolinterface.

When the software program interface employs the API, the terminalinformation is combined into an XML format and is transmitted to the APIas an argument.

The DM Agent module transmits the terminal information via an extendedOpen Mobile Alliance (OMA) DM protocol.

The transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented with a command of the extend OMA DM protocol which supportsactive event triggered by clients; or

the transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented by extending a standard command of the OMA DM protocol intoa terminal information reporting command; or

the transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented by adding a special terminal information reporting commandinto the OMA DM protocol; or

the transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented with a command of the OMA DM protocol directly.

The terminal information includes error information created during theoperation of the terminal software, error information created by theterminal hardware, and process information created during the operationof the terminal.

The method for maintaining terminal device includes the following steps:

reporting, by the terminal device, the information of the terminalthrough a software program interface provided by a Device Management(DM) Agent module;

forwarding, by the DM Agent module, the terminal information to a DMServer;

reporting, by the DM Server, the terminal information to a MaintenanceUnit (MU);

when receiving the terminal information, determining, by the MU, thecorresponding software update package and sending the software updatepackage to the DM Server;

maintaining, by the DM Server, the terminal device with the softwareupdate package following an OMA DM process.

Before the step of reporting by the DM Server the terminal informationto a Maintenance Unit (MU), the method further including: upon receivingthe terminal information, judging, by the DM Server, whether theterminal device may be maintained automatically; if the judgment is“Yes”, maintaining, by the DM server, the terminal device directlyfollowing the OMA DM process; otherwise the method proceeds to the stepof the DM Server reporting the terminal information to a MaintenanceUnit (MU) and the subsequent steps of the reporting step.

The software program interface includes a network protocol interface, anXML interface, or an API.

When the software program interface employs the API, the terminal deviceprogram will combine the terminal information into an XML format andsend the terminal information to the API as an argument.

The DM Agent module transmits the terminal information via an extendedOMA DM protocol.

The transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented with commands supporting active event triggered by clientsin the extend OMA DM protocol; or the transmission of the terminalinformation by the DM Agent module is implemented by extending astandard command of OMA DM protocol into a terminal informationreporting command; or

the transmission of the terminal information by the DM Agent module isimplemented by adding a special terminal information reporting commandinto the OMA DM protocol; or the transmission of the terminalinformation by the DM Agent module is implemented with a command of theOMA DM protocol directly.

The terminal information includes error information created duringoperation of the terminal software, error information created byterminal hardware, and process information created during operation ofthe terminal.

The Device Management (DM) system includes a DM Server adapted to managea terminal device, a DM Agent module located in the terminal device andinteracting with the DM Server, and a Maintenance Unit (MU) coupled tothe DM Server and adapted to acquire, store, and maintain theinformation of the terminal device;

The DM Agent modules and the DM Server have a software program interfacerespectively;

The software program interface of the DM Agent module is adapted toreceive the terminal information reported from the terminal devices andforward the terminal information to the DM Server; the DM Server reportsthe terminal information to the MU.

The software program interface is a messaging interface, a fileinterface, an API, or a Web service interface. With the software programinterfaces provided by the DM Agent module and the DM Server forinformation reporting, the terminal device software may report terminalinformation to the DM module, and enables the DM Agent module toautomatically report the terminal information in an extended protocol tothe DM Server, which in turn reports the terminal information to the MU,so that the terminal software developer may obtain the terminalinformation from the terminal software timely and accurately and therebyperform maintenance as appropriate. The invention may enhance theautomatic fault resolution capability of the terminal software andsimplify the DM fault resolution process, providing ease for useroperation and management.

The system for reporting terminal information applied to a communicationnetwork includes: a first terminal configured to communicate with asecond terminal accessing the communication network; a management unitarranged in the first terminal, configured to receive the information ofthe first terminal reported by the first terminal; and a managementserver, configured to receive the information sent by the managementunit;

wherein the information of the first terminal is reported to themanagement unit via a software program interface; the software programinterface is a messaging interface, a file interface, an API, or a Webservice interface;

wherein the messaging interface is an XML interface or a networkprotocol interface;

wherein when the software program interface is the API, the informationof the first terminal is combined into an XML format and is reported tothe API as an argument;

wherein the management unit sends the information of the first terminalto the management server via an extended Open Mobile Alliance DM (OMADM) protocol;

wherein the management unit sends the information of the first terminalto the management server with a command of the extend OMA DM protocolwhich supports active event triggered by clients; or

the management unit sends the information of the first terminal to themanagement server by extending a standard command of the OMA DM protocolinto a terminal information reporting command; or

the management unit sends the information of the first terminal to themanagement server by adding a special terminal information reportingcommand into the OMA DM protocol; or

the management unit sends the information of the first terminal to themanagement server with a command of the OMA DM protocol directly.

The system for maintaining terminal device applied to a communicationnetwork includes: a first terminal configured to communicate with asecond terminal accessing the communication network; a management unitarranged in the first terminal, configured to receive the errorinformation of the first terminal; a management server, configured toreceive the error information sent by the management unit; and amaintenance unit, configured to receive the error information of thefirst terminal sent by the management server and send a correspondingsoftware update package for maintaining the first terminal to themanagement server;

wherein the management server maintains the first terminal with thecorresponding software update package following an OMA DM process;

wherein upon receiving the error information of the first terminal, themanagement server judges whether the first terminal can be maintainedautomatically; if the judgment is “Yes”, the management server maintainsthe first terminal directly following the OMA DM process; otherwise, themanagement server sends the error information of the first terminal tothe maintenance unit.

The method of reporting terminal information applied to a communicationnetwork includes: reporting, by a terminal accessing the communicationnetwork, the information of the terminal to a management unit; uponreceiving the information of the terminal, the management unit sendingthe information to a management server;

wherein the information of the terminal is reported to the managementunit via a software program interface; the software program interface isa messaging interface, a file interface, an API, or a Web serviceinterface;

wherein the messaging interface is an XML interface or a networkprotocol interface;

wherein when the software program interface is the API, the terminalinformation is combined into an XML format and is reported to the API asan argument;

wherein the management unit sends the information of the terminal to themanagement server via an extended Open Mobile Alliance DM (OMA DM)protocol;

wherein the management unit sends the information of the terminal to themanagement server with a command of the extend OMA DM protocol whichsupports active event triggered by clients; or

the management unit sends the information of the terminal to themanagement server by extending a standard command of the OMA DM protocolinto a terminal information reporting command; or

the management unit sends the information of the terminal to themanagement server by adding a special terminal information reportingcommand into the OMA DM protocol; or

the management unit sends the information of the terminal to themanagement server with a command of the OMA DM protocol directly.

The method for maintaining terminal device applied to a communicationnetwork includes: sending, by a terminal accessing the communicationnetwork, the information of the terminal to a management unit; uponreceiving the information of the terminal, the management unit sendingthe information to a management server; upon receiving the informationof the terminal, the management server a corresponding software updatepackage for maintaining the first terminal to the management server;

wherein the management server maintains the terminal with thecorresponding software update package following an OMA DM process;

wherein upon receiving the error information of the first terminal, themanagement server judges whether the first terminal can be maintainedautomatically; if the judgment is “Yes”, the management server maintainsthe first terminal directly following the OMA DM process; otherwise, themanagement server reports the error information of the first terminal tothe maintenance unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of the DM system architecture according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of reporting terminal information from theterminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of reporting terminal information from theterminal device and resolving the terminal error according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of the DM system architecture according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the DM systemin an embodiment of the present invention includes DM Agent moduleslocated in terminal devices, a DM Server, and a Maintenance Unit (MU).

The DM Agent module has a software program interface adapted forinformation reporting (hereinafter referred to as “information reportinginterface”), which may be open to terminal Operation System (OS) andstandard software on terminal OS as well as third-party softwaredevelopers. The application software and firmware/OS of the terminaldevice reports terminal information to the DM Agent module via theinformation reporting interface.

The DM Agent module interacts with the DM Server via an OMA DM protocolinterface.

Similarly, there is a standard information reporting interface at the DMServer side. The DM Server reports the received terminal information tothe MU via the information reporting interface; the MU may be amaintenance unit deployed by the terminal software developer.

The terminal information includes error information created by thesoftware of the terminal device, error information created by thehardware of the terminal device, and process information created duringthe operation of the terminal device. The reported process informationmay be utilized as a condition for triggering automatic resolution incase of any error of the terminal software, and may be used to providedebugging information during software development process, acquiresoftware use information during the trial period, acquire information inits beneficial use, and provide a mechanism to timely feedback to enduser in case of any error or abnormality of the software. The terminalsinclude mobile terminals or fixed terminals.

Hereunder the implementation of the invention will be described indetail, assuming the terminal information as software error information.

Terminal error information is described in a XML format, which may beapplied in the information reporting interface and the reportingprotocol according to the present invention. The following tabledescribes the relevant description tags that may be used in the errorinformation description format for constituting complete errordescription information.

Tag Description Report Container tag of terminal information, adapted tocontain a piece of terminal information Info Brief description of errorLevel Error Class AppName Application name Provider Application providerAddress Entry address of automatic information reporting interface ofthe application provider Version Version of application softwareDataType Type of error data Data Error data Date (Time) Time OSOperating system OSVersion Version of operating system MemorySize Memorysize

The resulting XML format is as follows:

<Report> <Info></Info> <Level></Level> <AppName></AppName><Provider></Provider> <Address></Address> <Version></Version><DataType></DataType> <Data></Data> <Date><Date> <OS></OS><OSVersion></OSVersion> <MemorySize></MemorySize> </Report>

The above-mentioned information reporting interface includes a messaginginterface, a file interface (or the exchanging of data by means of filehandle provided in OS), an Application Programming Interface (API), or aWeb service interface, etc, or any other appropriate interfaces. Whereinthe messaging interface includes network protocol interface (e.g.,TCP/IP interface, HTTP interface, UDP interface, or FTP interface) or anXML interface, etc.; the API is not limited to common local methodinvocation, but may also be used in remote method invocation by means ofCORBA, Web Service (SOAP), RMI/IIOP, or DCOM, etc.

When the information reporting interface is API, the arguments of whichmay be in any of the following forms (only for reference, terminalinformation may be described in a more normalized and complete form whenthe standard is set down; there is no restriction in this aspect in theinvention):

(1) Error Description Format

The system provides a Notify API for terminal software to report errors;the API is similar to:

void Notify (char info[ ]); The argument is in an XML format thatconforms to the error description format.

<Report> <Info>unknown error</Info> <Level>1</Level><AppName>TestApp</AppName> <Provider>Huawei</Provider><Address>http://support.huawei.com/dmtest/Notify</Address><Version>1.0.1</Version> <DataType>text/plain</DataType> <Data>reportreason</Data> <Date>20050428163030<Date> <OS>linux</OS><OSVersion>1.1.1</OSVersion> <MemorySize>16M</Memory Size> </Report>

The approach is favorable for extending corresponding terminal errorinformation; in the approach, the terminal software combines errorinformation into the corresponding XML format.

(2) Pure API

The system provides a standard Notify for terminal software to reporterror information; the API is similar to:

void Notify (char name[ ], char provider[ ], char version[ ], char data[] . . . );

The contents of the arguments may be understood with reference to therelevant information in the error description format table. The approachis easy for use, but poor in extendibility.

When the DM Agent module reports the terminal error information throughthe information reporting interface, it reports the received softwareerror information to the DM Server via an extended OMA DM protocol. Theextended OMA DM protocol may be implemented in any of the followingways:

1. Implement with General Alert Command of the OMA DM Protocol:

The DM protocol supports events triggered by the client with GeneralAlert command. The command may be extended to support the automaticreporting of terminal error information.

The extending of the information description may be made in either ofthe following ways (the fields used hereunder are only illustrative;terminal information may be described in a more normalized and completedformat when the standard is set down; there is no restriction in thisaspect in the invention):

A. Attaching Terminal Error Information Description in Data FieldDirectly:

<Alert> <CmdID>1</CmdID> <Data>1226</Data> <Item> <Source><LocURI>./SyncML/Sample</LocURI> </Source> <Meta> <Typexmlns=”syncml:metinf”> x-oma-application:syncml.samplealert </Type><Format xmlns=”syncml:metinf”>xml</Format> <Markxmlns=”syncml:metinf”>critical</Mark> </Meta> <Data>//extended portionhereunder <Report> <Info></Info> <Level></Level> <AppName></AppName><Provider></Provider> <Address></Address> <Version></Version><DataType></DataType> <Data></Data> <Date><Date> <OS></OS><OSVersion></OSVersion> <MemorySize></MemorySize> </Report> </Data></Item> </Alert>

By adding a tag such as <Report> tag to extend the Data tag, anautomatic error reporting message may be transmitted. When the Serverreceives the message and finds the Report tag, it may determine that theGeneral Alert is an error reporting message. And, the Server mayretrieve response data and trigger a processing flow.

B. Attaching Terminal Error Information in the Form of Systematic[!CDATA] in Data Field:

<![CDATA[text content]]>Attach description information in XML format in CDATA, for example:

<Data> <![CDATA[ <Report> <Info></Info> <Level></Level><AppName></AppName> <Provider></Provider> <Address></Address><Version></Version> <DataType></DataType> <Data></Data> <Date><Date><OS></OS> <OSVersion></OSVersion> <Memory Size></Memory Size> </Report>]]> </Data>

(2) Implement by Adding New Commands

If the General Alert command is not used, the operation may beaccomplished by extending special terminal information reportingcommands (e.g., adding a Notify command). The Item tag may be used tocontain the error information, the format of which may conform to theterminal information description format.

<Notify> <CmdID>1</CmdID> <Item> <Report> <Info></Info> <Level></Level><AppName></AppName> <Provider></Provider> <Address></Address><Version></Version> <DataType></DataType> <Data></Data> <Date><Date><OS></OS> <OSVersion></OSVersion> <MemorySize></MemorySize> </Report></Item> </Notify>

Detailed software information may be involved in the Item field of theNotify command, so as to assist the developer for debugging and handlethem timely.

(3) Implement by Extending the Alert Command, Adding an InformationReporting Alert Command.

The standard Alert command for DM may be extended into a terminalinformation reporting Alert command. The terminal information reportingAlert command is allowed to have the same active reporting capability asthe General Alert.

For example, the description field of the General Alert is describedwith <Data>1226</Data>. The Data field of the Alert command, forexample, may be extended to 1227.

<Alert> <CmdID>1</CmdID> <Data>1227</Data> ... </Alert>

The Alert command may be presented as Alert. The detailed informationdescription format may be determined with reference to the errorreporting format for terminal information reporting with the GeneralAlert.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of reporting terminal information from theterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referringto FIG. 2, the automatic reporting process of terminal device softwareerror is as follows:

Step 1: an error occurs in the terminal device software; and theinformation of the error is described in the XML format;

Step 2: the terminal software reports the error information to the DMAgent module through the standard information reporting interface;

Step 3: the DM Agent module reports the error information to the DMServer via the extended OMA DM protocol;

Step 4: the DM Server forwards the error information to the MU of theterminal software developer through the information reporting interface,so that the MU may perform recording and statistics for software errors.Before reporting the error information, the DM Server may performaddition or deletion on data and format conversion for the errorinformation (e.g., filtering off the user's mobile telephone number andtransmitting to the MU).

The DM system may maintain a list of applications and the correspondingMU addresses (or ISP addresses), so that the DM Server may obtain the MUaddress (ISP address) from the list according to the applicationindicated in the terminal information. For example, the addresses listmay be stored in the DM Server locally.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of reporting terminal information from theterminal device and resolving the terminal device error according to anembodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3. The automaticprocess of terminal device error reporting and handling is as follows:

Step 10: an error occurs in the terminal device software; and theinformation of the error is described in the XML format;

Step 11: the terminal software reports the error information to the DMAgent module through the standard information reporting interface;

Step 12: the DM Agent module reports the error information to the DMServer via the extended OMA DM protocol;

Step 13: the DM Server searches the local maintenance database to seewhether there is corresponding solution information according to theapplication information indicated in the error information; if there isa matched solution, the DM Server determines the error may be solvedautomatically, and the flow proceeds to Step 16; otherwise the flowproceeds to Step 14;

Step 14: the DM Server reports the error information to the terminalsoftware provider's MU through the standard information reportinginterface;

Step 15: the terminal software developer analyzes the error, provides asoftware package to solve the error, and issues the software package tothe DM Server through the information reporting interface;

Step 16: the DM Server implements the terminal software resolutionfollowing the standard OMA DM process.

An embodiment of the terminal device error information reporting and theterminal maintaining is shown as follows:

Suppose the terminal information reported from the ME of user A is:

<Report> <Info>Version Error</Info> <Level>High</Level><AppName>TestApp</AppName> <Provider>Huawei</Provider><Address>www.huawei.com</Address> <Version>1.0.1</Version><DataType>text/plain</DataType> <Data>8001</Data><Date>20050505201010<Date> <OS>MobileOS</OS><OSVersion>1.0.2</OSVersion> <MemorySize>200</MemorySize> </Report>

The terminal information indicates an error coded as 8001 occurs in theprogram with the application named as TestApp and the version number as1.0.1.

Suppose the automatic processing information for the local errorhandling is maintained in the DM Server:

Version Error Processing AppName Number Data Mode Data TestApp 1.0.18001 01(here “01” /root/update/testapp/ indicates new 1.0.2/update.datversion update) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After checking the reported error information, the DM Server searchesthe table for matching; if finding the corresponding processing datathere, the DM Server will update the terminal software according to theprocessing mode and the corresponding data therein, so as to attain theresult of automatic error handling. If the processing information is notfound, the DM Server will report the terminal information to the MU (orASP).

In the flow shown in FIG. 3, the DM Server may also be configured not tohandle the error but report the error information directly to theterminal software developer's MU for handling.

As for the hardware error information and process information created byterminal devices, the handling procedures are identical to those for theabove error information, except for the tag in the description format,which is slightly different to the tag for the above error information.

The embodiments mentioned above are only used to describe and explainthe principle of the invention. It is understood that the embodiments ofthe invention are not limited to those ones. Those skilled in the artmay easily make modifications and alterations, without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention; however, any of such alterationsor modifications shall fall into the protected domain of the invention.Therefore, the protected domain of the invention shall only be confinedby the claims.

1. A method of reporting terminal information, comprising the followingsteps: reporting, by a terminal device, terminal information through asoftware program interface provided by a Device Management (DM) Agentmodule; forwarding, by said DM Agent module, said terminal informationto a DM Server; and reporting, by said DM Server, said terminalinformation to a Maintenance Unit (MU).
 2. The method as in claim 1,wherein said software program interface comprises a messaging interface,a file interface, an API, or a Web service interface.
 3. The method asin claim 2, wherein said messaging interface comprises an XML interfaceor a network protocol interface.
 4. The method as in claim 2, whereinwhen said software program interface employs the API, the terminalinformation is combined into an XML format and is transmitted to the APIas an argument.
 5. The method as in claim 1, wherein said DM Agentmodule transmits said terminal information via an extended Open MobileAlliance DM (OMA DM) protocol.
 6. The method as in claim 5, wherein thetransmission of said terminal information by said DM Agent module isimplemented: with a command of the extend OMA DM protocol which supportsactive event triggered by clients; or by said DM Agent module isimplemented by extending a standard command of the OMA DM protocol intoa terminal information reporting command; or by adding a specialterminal information reporting command into the OMA DM protocol; or witha command of the OMA DM protocol directly.
 7. The method as in claim 1,wherein said terminal information comprises error information createdduring the operation of the terminal software, error information createdby the terminal hardware, and process information created during theoperation of the terminal.
 8. A method for maintaining terminal device,comprising the following steps: reporting, by a terminal device,terminal information through a software program interface provided by aDevice Management (DM) Agent module; forwarding, by said DM Agentmodule, said terminal information to a DM Server; reporting, by said DMServer, said terminal information to a Maintenance Unit (MU); uponreceiving said terminal information, determining, by said MU, thecorresponding software update package and sending said software updatepackage to the DM Server; maintaining, by said DM Server, the terminaldevice with said software update package following an OMA DM process. 9.The method as in claim 8, before the step of reporting by said DM Serversaid terminal information to a Maintenance Unit (MU), said methodfurther comprising: upon receiving said terminal information, judging,by said DM Server, whether the terminal device can be maintainedautomatically; if the judgment is “Yes”, maintaining, by said DM Server,the terminal device directly following the OMA DM process; otherwise themethod proceeds to the step of reporting by said DM Server said terminalinformation to a Maintenance Unit (MU) and the subsequent steps of thereporting step.
 10. The method as in claim 8, wherein said softwareprogram interface comprises a network protocol interface, an XMLinterface, or an API.
 11. The method as in claim 10, wherein when saidsoftware program interface employs the API, terminal device program willcombine the terminal information into an XML format and send thecombined terminal information to the API as an argument.
 12. The methodas in claim 8, wherein said DM Agent module transmits said terminalinformation via an extended OMA DM protocol.
 13. The method as in claim12, wherein the transmission of said terminal information by said DMAgent module is implemented: with commands supporting active eventtriggered by clients in the extend OMA DM protocol; or by extending astandard command of OMA DM protocol into a terminal informationreporting command; or by adding a special terminal information reportingcommand into the OMA DM protocol; or with a command of the OMA DMprotocol directly.
 14. The method as in claim 8, wherein said terminalinformation comprises error information created during operation of theterminal software, error information created by terminal hardware, andprocess information created during operation of the terminal.
 15. ADevice Management (DM) system, comprising a DM Server adapted to managea terminal device, a DM Agent module located in the terminal device andinteracting with said DM Server; said Device Management system furthercomprising a Maintenance Unit (MU) coupled to said DM Server and adaptedto acquire, store, and maintain the information of the terminal device;said DM Agent modules and said DM Server have a software programinterface respectively; the software program interface of said DM Agentmodule is adapted to receive the terminal information reported from theterminal device and forward the terminal information to the DM Server;said DM Server reports said terminal information to said MU.
 16. The DMsystem as in claim 15, wherein said software program interface comprisesa messaging interface, a file interface, an API, or a Web serviceinterface.
 17. A system for reporting terminal information applied to acommunication network, the system comprising: a first terminalconfigured to communicate with a second terminal accessing saidcommunication network; a management unit arranged in said firstterminal, configured to receive the information of said first terminalreported by said first terminal; and a management server, configured toreceive the information sent by said management unit.
 18. The system asin claim 17, wherein the information of said first terminal is reportedto said management unit via a software program interface; said softwareprogram interface comprises a messaging interface, a file interface, anAPI, or a Web service interface.
 19. The system as in claim 18, whereinsaid messaging interface comprises an XML interface or a networkprotocol interface.
 20. The system as in claim 18, wherein when saidsoftware program interface employs said API, the information of the saidfirst terminal is combined into an XML format and is reported to saidAPI as an argument.
 21. The system as in claim 17, wherein saidmanagement unit sends the information of said first terminal to saidmanagement server via an extended Open Mobile Alliance DM (OMA DM)protocol.
 22. The system as in claim 21, wherein said management unitsends the information of said first terminal to said management server:with a command of said extend OMA DM protocol which supports activeevent triggered by clients; or by extending a standard command of saidOMA DM protocol into a terminal information reporting command; or byadding a special terminal information reporting command into said OMA DMprotocol; or with a command of said OMA DM protocol directly.
 23. Asystem for maintaining terminal device applied to a communicationnetwork, the system comprising: a first terminal configured tocommunicate with a second terminal accessing said communication network;a management unit arranged in said first terminal, configured to receivethe error information of said first terminal; a management server,configured to receive the error information sent by said managementunit; and a maintenance unit, configured to receive the errorinformation of said first terminal sent by said management server andsend a corresponding software update package for maintaining said firstterminal to said management server.
 24. The system as in claim 23,wherein said management server maintains said first terminal with saidcorresponding software update package following an OMA DM process. 25.The system as in claim 23, wherein upon receiving the error informationof said first terminal, said management server judges whether said firstterminal can be maintained automatically; if said judgment is “Yes”,said management server maintains said first terminal directly followingsaid OMA DM process; otherwise, said management server sends the errorinformation of said first terminal to said maintenance unit.
 26. Amethod of reporting terminal information applied to a communicationnetwork, the method comprising: reporting, by a terminal accessing saidcommunication network, the information of the terminal to a managementunit; upon receiving the information of the terminal, the managementunit sending the information to a management server.
 27. The method asin claim 26, wherein the information of said terminal is reported tosaid management unit via a software program interface; said softwareprogram interface comprises a messaging interface, a file interface, anAPI, or a Web service interface.
 28. The method as in claim 27, whereinsaid messaging interface comprises an XML interface or a networkprotocol interface.
 29. The method as in claim 27, wherein when saidsoftware program interface employs said API, said terminal informationis combined into an XML format and is reported to said API as anargument.
 30. The method as in claim 26, wherein said management unitsends the information of said terminal to said management server via anextended Open Mobile Alliance DM (OMA DM) protocol.
 31. The method as inclaim 30, wherein said management unit sends the information of saidterminal to said management server: with a command of said extend OMA DMprotocol which supports active event triggered by clients; or byextending a standard command of said OMA DM protocol into a terminalinformation reporting command; or by adding a special terminalinformation reporting command into said OMA DM protocol; or with acommand of said OMA DM protocol directly.
 32. A method for maintainingterminal device applied to a communication network, the methodcomprising: sending, by a terminal accessing said communication network,the information of the terminal to a management unit; upon receiving theinformation of the terminal, the management unit sending the informationto a management server; upon receiving the information of the terminal,said management server a corresponding software update package formaintaining said first terminal to said management server.
 33. Themethod as in claim 32, wherein said management server maintains saidterminal with said corresponding software update package following anOMA DM process.
 34. The method as in claim 32, wherein upon receivingthe error information of said first terminal, said management serverjudges whether said first terminal can be maintained automatically; ifsaid judgment is “Yes”, said management server maintains said firstterminal directly following said OMA DM process; otherwise, saidmanagement server reports the error information of said first terminalto said maintenance unit.